Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of (a) trends in the level of household financial hardship and (b) the potential impact of those trends on the design and funding of the Crisis and Resilience Fund.

Trends in the percentage of individuals in relative and absolute low income both before and after housing costs can be found in the Households Below Average Income Official Statistics: Households below average income: for financial years ending 1995 to 2024 - GOV.UK

Between the 2022/23 and 2023/24 financial years, there was an increase in the number of people in relative low income before housing costs and a decrease in the number of people in relative low income after housing costs. Over the same time period there was an increase in the number of people in absolute low income.

These trends informed the decision to launch the Crisis and Resilience Fund and for funding levels to be in line with the Household Support Fund and Discretionary Housing Payments.

Local Authority allocations for the Crisis and Resilience Fund are determined by deprivation and population size as well as shortfalls and deductions due to the Benefit Cap, Local Housing Allowance and Removal of the Spare Room Subsidy to ensure that funding levels reflect local need and financial hardship in an area.